There are a lot of different dishes one can do with beef cubes, but usually we don’t think of making a hearty pasta beef dish, but this hits all the boxes. Pasta lovers and meat lovers get a bowl that is sure to please and makes a cold winter more palatable.

Ingredients

The list might look long, but these are items you most likely have in your pantry.

• beef cubes,
• carrots,
• onion
• celery
• beef broth
• wine
• canned tomatoes
• beans (optional)
• short rigatoni
• pecorino
• herbs

• Begin by browning beef cubes. I think it’s important to trim any fat after browning. Enough of the fat will be in the pan and can be deglazed.
• Soffrito: Chop onion, carrots, celery, as this is the go to for starting almost any soup or stew to build flavor.
• Use boxed organic beef broth, canned tomatoes, white beans and a little red wine.
• Short rigatoni make the perfect replacement for potatoes, which makes this a stew and not a soup. The rigatoni are cooked right in the pot, soaking up the broth, absorbing flavor and making this a hefty stew. You could use penne pasta also.

Variations

• You could make a similar dish with a pot roast, or even change the meat around and use boneless pork chops.
• Switch out the pasta to a different macaroni like penne.
• Add dollops of ricotta cheese!

More Dishes with Beef Cubes

• Beef Ragu
• Italian Beef Stew
• Irish Stew
• Beef Cabbage Soup
• Tomato Beef Soup with Einkorn Berries
• Beef Macaroni Soup

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Beef Rigatoni

Beef Rigatoni is a cross between a soup and a stew, hearty and true comfort food.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Keyword beef cubes, beef rigatoni, rigatoni

Ingredients

• 2 carrots diced
• 2 celery diced
• 1/2 onion diced
• 1 pound beef cubes
• 4 cups beef broth
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1 cup Italian San Marzano Tomatoes
• 1/2 pound rigatoni
• 1/2 cup pecorino romano grated
• 1 can cannellini beans
• 1 bay leaf
• salt, pepper for seasoning

Instructions

• Make sure meat is dry (use paper towel) so it will brown better. Season with salt and pepper.
• Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan. I used a dutch oven. Add beef cubes and brown. Do this in stages because you don't want to crowd the pan.
• Remove meat to a plate and set aside.
• Add in vegetables Saute for a few minutes.
• Deglaze pot with the wine.
• Crush the tomatoes with your hand and add to pot.
• Add beef pack to pot, along with broth, bay leaf.
• Braise the beef for two hours or until tender.
• Rinse beans in cold water. Add to pot.
• Once the beef is tender, add in pasta. The pasta will absorb a lot of the liquid. If you find there's not enough liquid in pot for pasta, add some water or more broth. Make sure the soup is boiling before adding in the pasta. Cook until pasta is done. It will absorb the broth and and the starch will thicken it into a nice sauce.
• Serve with pecorino romano and any sprinkle of herbs you like.
• Drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper only if needed.

The post Hearty Italian Beef Rigatoni appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

I am super excited about this recipe for uncomplicated beef bourguignon.

Almost giddy. I’ve been wanting to make beef bourguignon for ever. The ingredients didn’t intimidate me, but the instructions sure did. There were too many pans and too many unnecessary steps, which is so very much like the French.  Beef Bourguignon started out as peasant fare originating in the Burgundy region using Charolais bulls.

It was elevated by Escoffier to haute cuisine as he used a whole piece of beef. It was Julia Child who chose to used beef cubes.  This reminds me of this Italian Beef in Red Wine I made some years back using the whole piece of meat.  Both recipes are amazing.

After Italian food, french food is my favorite and there are so overlaps in the cuisine. Italians seems to know how to cook with less ingredients and the recipes are usually more approachable.

Sometimes the French don’t know how to streamline and I’m thinking maybe all these steps were ways for the chef to boss his crew around or simply elevate peasant food as mentioned above.

Since I am Italian, I’m not about to compromise on taste or quality so even though this recipe saves many steps (and I won’t even go into them here), the result of this wine braised beef is amazing and should be your very next dish for company.

You Can Do the Prep in Advance

So much of the prep can be done in advance and honestly there’s about 30 minutes  of active cook time. The dutch oven does all the work, as well as a fine bottle of wine that takes plain old beef cubes to the next level and above.

I took some license with the flour that typically goes into a stew and used tapioca starch, also known as tapioca flour to keep this grain free, gluten free.

Let me take you through the ingredients and I ask you not to scrimp or make substitutions. If you do I cannot guarantee your beef bourguignon will be exquisite.

The French spelling is bœuf à la Bourguignonne. We can say Beef Burgundy in English. It’s basically beef stew braised in red wine and we refer always to Julia Child who made this dish famous. In fact all the recipes on line are versions of her dish.

This recipe has the same ingredients, while using some shortcuts that we believe make no difference to the gist and flavor of the dish.

What are the Ingredients for Beef Bourguignon?

• Beef Cubes
• Red Wine
• Bacon
• Tomato Paste
• Mushrooms
• Pearl Onions
• Carrots
• Garlic Cloves
• Beef Broth
• Flour or Tapioca Flour

Crock Pot or Dutch Oven

You can begin this recipe in a large pot and then transfer to a slow cooker. I prefer to make this in a dutch oven and put it into the oven on low for about 3 hours. Either way, it will be delicious.

My Favorites

• Slow Cooker
• Dutch Oven (This is the one I use every day. It’s Le Creuset and yes it’s worth the price).

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What is Beef Bourguignon?

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Beef Bourguignon

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 3 hours hours

Total Time 3 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound bacon cut into lardons 1 inch cubes
• 3 pounds Stew Meat 2 inch pieces
• salt
• pepper
• 1 large white onion small diced
• 3 garlic cloves minced or thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons flour I used tapioca flour
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 bottle dry red wine like a pinot noir
• 2 cups beef stock see notes
• 1 carrot cut into 2 inch pieces added in beginning
• 2 carrots cut into discs added later towards end
• 1 package pearl onions frozen
• Herbs parsley, thyme, 2 bayleaf which are removed later
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 package white or brown mushrooms quartered (more if you love mushrooms)

Instructions

• Brown bacon to crisp. Remove from pan, drain on paper towels.
• Dry meat with paper towels
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Flour the meat and brown in the bacon grease. Remove to a bowl.
• Using same pan or dutch oven, soften onion and add carrots.
• Add garlic and sauté briefly.
• Put beef cubes and bacon back into a dutch oven or crock pot.
• Add wine and tomato paste, pearl onions.
• Add enough beef stock to cover the meat.
• Cook in dutch oven for three hours.
• You can do this on top of stove, but I prefer to place dutch oven in a 325 degree oven.
• OR, you can put in a crock pot on high for 3 to 4 hours.
• One hour before serving, add the carrot discs. (remove the carrot that is in there).
• Remove the carrots pieces in the stew along with the bay leaf and other herbs.
• Thirty minutes before serving sauté mushrooms in olive oil.
• You can cook the carrots separately and add at the end if you desire.
• Add in cooked mushrooms.
• Cook until carrots are done.
• Top with fresh chopped parsley.
• Serve over mashed potatoes or creamy polenta.

Notes

I replace wheat flour with tapioca flour to make this recipe gluten free, paleo and lower carb. There is no taste difference.

The post Uncomplicated Beef Bourguignon, Paleo, Keto Friendly appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Last year we went to an Irish cooking class. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much, but thought it would be a fun social event. This class surprised me. It was delicious, comforting, and exceeded our expectations. On a side note, I’m only 3/4 Italian heritage; the rest is a mix of Scotch, Irish, English, and it was fun embracing this cuisine.

The menu included Irish Stew, Colcannon, Shamrock Salad and a delicious Irish soda bread. I’ll share the recipe for the Irish stew and the Irish soda bread. This makes a great snow day meal, and that’s exactly what we did last week.

Irish Stew – What is it?

So what is Irish Stew anyway? It’s a true meat and potatoes dish, but a little different from a typical beef stew. Often known as Mulligan Stew, it developed as a meat and vegetable dish sometime in the 17th or 18th century, for farmers and shepherds who would welcome a simply made, hot meal on a damp, cold day.

Irish stew is typically made with beer, and usually no thickener is used to make a more gravy-like stew. Since we are major soup and broth lovers in this house, we love it more broth-like.

The Irish also relied on cabbage, turnips, and onions, in addition to milk, cheese and beef from cows. You could replace the potatoes with turnips for a low carb stew, but cook only at last twenty to thirty minutes because they cook fast and will turn to a bitter mush.

Beef or Lamb Irish Stew

Lamb is more typical in Ireland, but beef is used more in the states. If you love the idea of a lamb stew, you have to make this Hunger Games Lamb Stew I made years ago.

Or go ahead and use lamb for this recipe. Many people don’t give lamb a fighting chance, and a leg of lamb can be very tasty and affordable (Costco has a good price).

Beer for Irish Stew

The typical beer for the best Irish Stew is Guinness. I was snowed in and used what this beer I found in the fridge. It worked fine. You could also sub with a cup of red wine, but this is Irish stew, so use beer if you can.

If you can’t use beer for whatever reason, substitute with more beef broth, and 2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce.

Process for Making the Best Irish Stew

Just like all other stew recipes, the meat should be a little marbled, seasoned with salt and pepper and browned really well before adding it to the broth. This stew doesn’t require flouring first, but if you want a thicker stew you can do that.

Once the meat is browned add garlic and cook for just a minute to bring flavor. Add in remaining vegetables (except potatoes), broth and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat, add in the beer. Cook for 30 minutes. Add in bite-sized potatoes and cook for another 60 minutes. I keep the carrots in quite large pieces and put them in from the beginning. If you are going to substitute turnips for potatoes, add them in at the last 30 minutes of cooking or you will have mush.

Tips for Best Irish Stew

• Irish stew is typically brothy. You can thicken, but our family likes the brothiness.
• Keep carrots in large pieces so they don’t get mushy.
• Add potatoes at last 30 minutes. I prefer golden yukons.
• Make sure to brown the meat on all sides.

Finish: Taste for seasoning. Add chopped parsley. Serve immediately.

Irish Soda Bread in the Oven

This recipe for soda bread is glorious. Crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside and just a tad sweet with golden raisins. Feel free to use brown raisins, currents, or dried fruit of choice.

Traditional Vs. This Recipe for Soda Bread

• Traditional Recipe: No Butter, Egg or Sugar. Made on top of the stove. (per my Irish Cookbook)
• This Recipe: Baked on oven. Butter in recipe similar to American biscuits.
• Both recipes use flour, buttermilk and baking soda.

Tips for Irish Soda Bread

• If you don’t weigh out the flour, please spoon in your measuring cup.
• Keep ingredients cold, especially butter.
• Mix egg into the buttermilk first.
• Make your own buttermilk: add a teaspoon distilled vinegar or lemon juice, and wait about 10 minutes.
• Keep dough sticky and don’t over-mix. Treat soda bread same way you would treat American biscuits. Sticky is good.
• Cold butter (pea size) that doesn’t get smeared into the flour. Makes for fluffy inside.
• Raisins: I prefer golden raisins, but you can leave them out or replace with other dried fruit.
• Best eaten same day, and out of the oven, but can be reheated up to two days.

Don’t wait until St. Patrick’s Day to try these recipes. They are perfect for comfort and chasing away the winter blues. Please leave me a comment, letting me know if you have ever made Irish Stew, and if you have a different version, I’d love to hear about it.

More Stews from Spinach Tiger

• Hunger Games Lamb Stew
• Italian Beef Stew
• Veal Stew with Onion Sauce
• Beef Bourguinon
• Veal Stew with Turnips and Purple Potatoes

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Irish Stew, Irish Soda Bread

Easy Irish Stew made with beef, carrots, potatoes with Irish Soda Bread Recipe

Course Stew

Cuisine Irish

Keyword Irish Soda Bread, Irish Stew

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 2 hours hours

Servings 6

Ingredients

IRISH STEW

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 pounds Beef chuck stew meat
• salt, pepper
• 1 onion diced
• 2 carrots
• 2 stalks celery
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 4 cups beef broth
• 1 16 ounce bottle Beer (Guiness or Your Choice)
• 6 sprigs fresh thyme or 2 t dried thyme
• chopped parsley for garnish
• 3 cups cubed (large) yellow yukon potatoes or russet

IRISH SODA BREAD

• 1 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 large egg
• 4 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar optional
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons unsalted cold butter
• 1/2 cup raisins optional

Instructions

• Heat olive oil in dutch oven you will be making stew in.
• Season cubed meat with salt and pepper and brown on all sides. You may need to work in batches so as to not steam the meat. Transfer to a plate. Meat does NOT need to be cooked through. It will cook in the stew broth,
  
• Add more oil if needed and cook onion, carrots and celery for about five minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add thyme.
• Add meat back.
• Add broth and beer.
  
• Cook on very low for about two hours. Add potatoes in during the last 30 minutes.
  
• Garnish with parsley. Serve.

IRISH SODA BREAD

• Mix flour with salt, sugar, baking soda.
• Add raisins if using.
• Cut in butter. Butter should be cold and pea size.
• Add buttermilk (can make with regular milk and teaspoon of white vinegar).
• Use a wooden spoon or your hands to mix. It should be sticky dough. Use some extra flour to form into a round. DO NOT OVER MIX.
• Bake in cast pan or griddle at 375 degrees F. for 35-50 minutes. My oven cooked very fast. Internal temperature should be 208 degrees F.

The post Best Irish Stew, Oven Baked Soda Bread appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Big Fat Healthy Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Ragú is a mouthful. It’s almost as rich as a beef bourguinon without the fuss and whole bottle of good red wine. This is more of Wednesday night dinner with a Sunday feel.

Beef Cubes are cheap, and yes it hurts me to talk about cheap beef, because I’m not talking unhealthy and I don’t want you to misunderstand. This is going to taste good from your mouth to your gut to your soul.

Cheap Beef Cubes turn into Delicious rich, provencal, shredded beef.

I do want you to get out the slow cooker (honestly something I don’t do enough of), and turn cheap beef into a rich, provencal, shredded beef full of flavor and ready to be eaten over rice, over pasta, over polenta, over grits, over zoodles, over potatoes or simply in a bowl.

The leftovers can be placed into crepes, omelettes, frittatas, tortillas, dinner rolls, gnocchi, or simply served in a bowl. Here I used a store-bought gnocchi and left-over shredded beef ragú. This is Italian meat and potatoes and kids love it!

Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Ragú Process

You can play around with this recipe for this ragú, sort of. You can’t believe some of the emails I get where people change the recipe to nearly unrecognizable and then tell me how it didn’t taste as good as they anticipated. So allow me to guide you on what you can and cannot do to this recipe.

• The main ingredients are onion, carrots, celery, crushed tomatoes, beef, cream, wine.
• Beef cubes can be replaced with pork cubes or veal cubes.
• Crushed tomatoes can be replaced with a can of Italian peeled tomatoes (not diced tomatoes).
• Celery can be replaced by apples, fresh fennel or nothing. NO celery salt!
• Carrots can be replaced by 1/2 cup cubed sweet potatoes.
• White wine can be replaced by red wine.
• Add in some milk, cream or skip this. Don’t add milk substitutes like almond milk or coconut milk. Just leave it out.

Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Ragú is Easy and Affordable.

This should  be a very easy dinner. You will have to prep for about ten minutes. How easy is that? You will need to chop some onions, celery, carrots and brown your beef. If you skip browning the beef cubes, they will be gray and you will miss the flavor browning meat makes happen.

Beef cubes are the least expensive beef on the market and this dish can turn into several leftover meals. This is one way to eat , big fat healthy food without a lot of fuss and on a budget.

Remember beef cubes the next time you’re in the grocery store. They are not just for beef soup or beef stew, but I have those recipes for you too.

Italian Beef Stew

Beef and Veal Shepherd’s Pie

Paleo Vegetable Beef Soup

Beef and Cabbage Soup

Tomato Beef Soup with Einkorn Berries

Uncomplicated French Beef Bourguinon

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Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Ragú or What to do with Cheap Beef Cubes

Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Ragú, fork tender and versatile, can be served on pasta, rice, gnocchi, polenta or by itself.

Course Entree

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 6 hours hours

Total Time 6 hours hours 20 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 pounds beef cubes
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 carrots small dice
• 2 celery sticks small dice
• 1 large onion small dice
• 1 large can tomato crushed tomatoes
• 1/4 cup cream (optional
• 2 cups dry white wine can use red wine
• salt pepper
• fresh herbs for garnish such as flat Italian parsley

Instructions

• Warm olive oil on medium heat.
• Remove any excess fat or gristle from beef cubes.
• Generously season beef cubes with salt and pepper.
• Brown beef cubes on all sides. Remove.
• Add to same pan onions, carrots, celery, and cook for about two minutes.
• Add garlic cloves.
• Add tomatoes, followed by cream.
• Once cream is incorporated, add wine.
• Transfer to your slow cooker for 6 hours on high, 12 hours on low.
• If you are cooking on high, add 1 cup water.

The post Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Ragú or What to do with Cheap Beef Cubes appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

To be honest, it’s still hot here in Nashville, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to wait for this super food soup that  is made with a tomato broth, grass fed beef cubes and fresh cabbage.

Beef and Cabbage Soup.

Cabbage and beef is a hearty soup. Even though it devoid of starches, it will fill you up and lure you into a second bowl.

Here’s a funny. As a child I hated cabbage, to the point of getting into a huge fight at the table when my mom put it in some soup. I learned then to never force a child to eat something, as children have different taste buds, which develop and evolve over time. I don’t believe in food fights or food forcing. I do believe in gentle persuasion. As a child I refused cabbage, liver, lamb, dark meat chicken, turkey legs, mushrooms, brussels sprouts, turnips, collard greens, figs and dates. I now love all of these foods, but it was slow development in adulthood.

Keto Cabbage and Beef Soup Process

Like all foods that are hot buttons, cabbage can be delicious or really terrible. I do not like cabbage that is cooked into nothing and for heaven’s sakes do not, I repeat, do not put cabbage in an instant pot. Your house will stink for days. I’m not a fan of the instant pot at all for the very reason of bad kitchen smells, particularly with meat and most definitely with cabbage.

This is not a hard soup, but you must take the time to brown the meat and sauté the carrots, onion and celery. There will be a 30 minute prep time. It seems today that folks want to be able to throw all the food into a crock pot and have it magically make a good soup. It doesn’t work that way. It is an easy soup in that you don’t have to be exact if you follow some basic cooking tips.

Tips for Beef and Cabbage Soup

• Brown the meat. You don’t have to dredge in flour. I avoid that, but you certainly can if you want to. Try tapioca flour if you want to dredge but we’re going for soup not stew.
• Use the best can of San Marzano Tomatoes. I like this brand best. Use your hands to squish into the broth.
• Don’t overcook the cabbage.

Make in Batches and Freeze Keto Beef Cabbage Soup

This is that soup that’s always better left over and is perfect for batch cooking and freezing.

Similar Recipes from Spinach Tiger You might Love

Paleo Beef  Vegetable Soup

Spicy Italian Soup with Sausage

Paleo Beef Stew

Italian Wedding Soup (Paleo, Grain Free)

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Homemade Beef Cabbage Soup

Homemade Beef Cabbage soup,

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 2 hours hours

Total Time 2 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 2 pounds beef cubes
• 1 can whole tomatoes
• 1/2 large onion
• 2 celery stick divided
• 2 carrots divided
• 4 quarts beef broth or homemade beef stock (can use chicken broth)
• 1 head cabbage cut into two inch pieces
• 2 bay leaves
• few sprigs fresh thyme
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley

Instructions

• Put olive oil in large cast iron dutch oven or heavy bottom pot. Season beef cubes with salt and pepper and place in hot oil. Brown meat on all sides.
• Prepare vegetables for braising meat. 1/2 onion, 1 carrot, 1 piece celery all cut into large chunks (to removed later). Add these to meat along with the beef broth.
• Cook low heat for one hour. Remove stock vegetables, discard.
• Add in can of tomatoes, cutting up tomatoes first, but be sure to include the juice.
• Add in bay leaves, thyme. Season with salt and pepper.
• Cook for 30 minutes on low.

Prepare Vegetables for Final Process

• Cut cabbage into two inch pieces.
• Dice remaining onion.
• Slice remaining celery and carrots.

Final Part of Soup

• Add in carrots, celery, onion to beef soup after removing the first set of vegetables. Cook for twenty minutes.
• Add in cabbage and continue cooking for 20 to 30 minutes more, until cabbage is just softened. You don't want cabbage to get mushy.

Season with salt and pepper.

• Garnish with fresh parsley.




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